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Taxi driver who continued carrying schoolchildren after licence suspension fined £1,924
A taxi driver who continued working after South Oxfordshire District Council suspended his licence has been fined and given eight penalty points.
Tariq Mehmood, 48, was found guilty of three offences at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on Friday 16 October 2026. He was convicted of driving a licensed hackney carriage without a hackney carriage driver’s licence, driving without valid insurance and failing to return his council-issued driver’s badge. Mehmood had pleaded not guilty but did not attend the trial.
The court heard that Mehmood had held a hackney carriage driver’s licence with the council since May 2023. Licensed drivers must hold an enhanced criminal record check and maintain a subscription to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Update Service, which enables the council to monitor changes to their record.
When Mehmood’s Update Service subscription lapsed, the council suspended his licence in December 2024. He nevertheless continued working as a taxi driver between 9 December 2024 and 8 January 2025, including transporting vulnerable children to and from school.
The council was alerted to the unlicensed work after Mehmood was involved in an altercation at the school. Because his licence was suspended, his insurance did not cover the journeys, the court heard.
Mehmood also failed to return his driver’s badge while his licence was suspended, as required by law.
District Judge Sharma fined Mehmood £660 and ordered him to pay a £264 victim surcharge and £1,000 towards the council’s prosecution costs. The total financial penalty was £1,924, and eight penalty points were added to his DVLA driving licence.
South Oxfordshire District Council no longer licenses Mehmood to drive taxis or private hire vehicles.
Cllr Georgina Heritage, Cabinet Member for Communities of South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “Our licensing checks exist to make sure that anyone who gets into a taxi in South Oxfordshire is in safe hands. That’s why we require every driver to keep an up-to-date criminal record check, so we can be sure they remain safe to carry passengers. When Mr Mehmood’s lapsed, we suspended his licence and he knew he could no longer work, but he kept on driving, leaving his passengers, including vulnerable children, uninsured and at risk.
“When we take a driver off the road, they must stay off it – and anyone who continues driving can expect to face prosecution.”
